Millinocket named Maine’s 3rd Appalachian Trail Community

Millinocket Appalachian Trail Committee member Jaime Renaud, standing near a mural of the trail, says that the town's recent designation as a national Appalachian Trail Community will bring tourism dollars into the Katahdin region. Buy Photo

MILLINOCKET, Maine — Town leaders will celebrate Millinocket becoming the third Maine municipality named an Appalachian Trail Community with a commemoration ceremony next month, organizers said Thursday.

The designation means that the town will be mentioned on all Appalachian Trail Conservancy maps, the ATC website and in many advertisements issued by the 40,000-member international organization, said Jaime Renaud, a member of the Millinocket Town Trail Committee.

“It’s an economic-development driver,” Renaud said Thursday. “People go to that organization, to its website, to learn about the trail. It’s another way that Millinocket can be known.”

Rangely and Monson in Maine are among the 27 trail communities nationwide. Both were named by the conservancy last year, while Town leaders learned of Millinocket’s designation last month, said Paul Renaud, a committee member and Jaime’s husband.

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Millinocket is already internationally recognized for its snowmobiling and proximity to Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park and the trail, which runs from Mount Katahdin to Springer Mountain in Dahlonega, Georgia.

The town has also begun developing ATV and cross-country skiing trails.

On July 6, U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, D-East Millinocket, and Town Manager Peggy Daigle are among the town leaders who will accept the signs to be hung at opposite ends of Route 11 near the town lines. The ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. in Veterans Park, said Jean Body, a Millinocket Town Trail Committee member and member of the Katahdin Area Chamber of Commerce, which helped the committee secure the designation.